Transformers: New Divide: Rise or Fall
by UniverseDreams
Summary: The Decepticons are regrouping and soon, the Autobots will be in for one of the biggest battles of their lives. Many mysteries will unfold and there's definitely more going on here than meets the eye. AU '09 Movieverse. Full summary inside. Has OCs.


**Transformers: ****Cybertronian Legacy****: New Divide: Rise or Fall  
**_Let it be enough to reach the truth that lies…across this new divide..._

* * *

**Extended Author's Note:** Hello, and welcome to my fanfic, whose full name is Transformers: Cybertronian Legacy: New Divide: Rise or Fall. As soon as I get this extended author's note out of the way, we can begin the story. It is very long, I know, but please read the whole thing, as it contains very important information about the story, including the full summary.

New Divide: Rise or Fall is the second installment in my Transformers fanfiction series, _Cybertronian Legacy_, and is based in and around the second movie, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. The story's based throughout the events of the entire movie from start to finish (some of the events are changed around to flow better and some are drawn out to happen over a longer period of time), and I'm also adding in a lot of original events and characters of my own in along with the RotF storyline. This fanfic can also be considered a redo of the second movie because I will be fixing all of the errors the movie had for this story. (A brief explanation on why Revenge of the Fallen was such a mess: I love the movie (all three of the Transformers movies are an 8 out of 10 rating for me), but in one blunt statement: the majority of it didn't make sense. I read that the Writer's Strike affected the production of a screenplay for RotF. So, by the time that the producers needed a script, the writers had like, three different ones, and they pooled elements of all of them together to make the movie storyline. The only problem was they didn't review the plot material as a whole and connect the loose ends to make the final result consistent and logical. Therefore, instead of a complete, solid movie, we got some main plot elements and subplots that didn't make any sense whatsoever, huge, gaping plot holes, facts that were incorrect, characters that were just _there _for absolutely no reason, characters knowing things that they shouldn't, and some things happening for no reason at all. O_O) So now, for this fanfic, I intend to fix those problems the best I can and make everything make sense. :D

The series that this story belongs to is called _Cybertronian Legacy_. For the _CL_ series, the rules and set-up are mostly that of the movieverse, and I'm creating a unique back-story for the Transformers and Cybertron using some minor bits and pieces of material from many of the different TF continuities, plus my own ideas, and making it into one consistent storyline. Hopefully, the series and all of its stories will turn out to be epic, and I know I'm really gonna enjoy writing it. ^_^ And one more thing: I said that New Divide: Rise or Fall was the _second _story in the _CL_ series. So, what's the first? Transformers: Arrival to Earth is the first story in this series, which is based on the first TF '07 movie. That whole movie was done very well and only a few minor details in it need to be altered to fit my series, such as the Transformers' origins, Cybertronian history and timelines, and the nature of the relationship between Earth/humans and the Transformers. Arrival to Earth is heavily based on the first movie (though it does have plenty of original moments as well) and much of the basic storyline is the same, so for now, the canon movie will suffice as background for Story 1. I know that I should write Arrival to Earth first, but New Divide: Rise or Fall is where the majority of the original storyline in the _CL _series starts, and I want to write this one first. After ND:RoF is complete, I will write Arrival to Earth, then continue on with the third story (which will have some elements of the third movie, Transformers: Dark of the Moon, but much of the storyline will be original). Okay, now that all of that's out of the way, on to the full summary for this story.

Full summary: _It's been two years after the battle of Mission City. The Autobots have stayed on Earth, and have formed a joint organization with the United States' and United Kingdom's human governments called N.E.S.T. Aside from the remaining Decepticons on Earth, it has been relatively quiet for two years. But the leader of the Autobots, Optimus Prime, knows that the silence will not last much longer. He has begun to see vivid images and sequences during recharge that have unsettled him. He cannot make much sense of these visions, nor can he explain their origin, but he knows that something malevolent is out there, waiting... And Prime's feelings of uneasiness are only increased by the cryptic message that the Autobots receive one night following a Decepticon attack._

_Meanwhile, Sam Witwicky, the boy who protected the Allspark and destroyed Megatron in the battle of Mission City, is going to college. He wishes for a normal life, going to school and being with his girlfriend, and wants nothing to do with the Transformers' war. But when the war picks up again in intense waves of battle, he'll find his life involuntarily interrupted again._

_At the N.E.S.T. main base of Diego Garcia, more Autobots arrive, new friendships are begun, old ones are reconnected, and pasts are revealed and explored. The humans and Transformers share an unmistakable bond, but as the Decepticons' plans come to light, trust in the shared alliance begins to fall apart, and relations with the government turn increasingly unstable as tensions run high. The search for truth and answers quickens in the building uncertainty and panic, and amid the conflict, confusion, and chaos around them, two Autobots continue to move closer and closer together..._

_But just as progress is being made on both tactical and personal fronts, a series of devastating events changes everything. The Autobots are struck with tragedy, and the Decepticons suddenly have the upper hand in the war. In the gravest of times, Sam Witwicky finds out that he may be the ultimate key to the Decepticons' plans, and the only one who can unlock the mysteries of the ancient past that Earth and the Transformers share. Will he have the power and courage to turn the tide of the war back in the Autobots' favor and make them victorious, stopping the Decepticons and saving the planet…or will he fail? _

The rating of the story is T (13+) and is rated for: action and sci-fi violence, mild language, some suggestive/adult themes and situations, and references to alcohol.

The main pairings are Sam/Mikaela and Optimus Prime/OC, with some Ironhide/Chromia, and a couple other minor pairings.

Side note: I recommend that people see the Transformers and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen movies first before reading this story. Spoilers abound for those who have not. It would also help to have at least a little knowledge of the different concepts, characters, continuities, and lingo/terms of Transformers, though it is not required. ;)

**Disclaimers:**

Transformers franchise © Hasbro  
Transformers ('07), Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen ('09), and Transformers 3: Dark of the Moon ('11) movies © to Paramount Pictures, Viacom, DreamWorks Pictures, Michael Bay, Steven Spielberg, Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci, Ehren Kruger, and all the other people who helped write, produce and make the movies  
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen novel adaption © Alan Dean Foster  
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen junior novel adaption © to Dan Jolley  
Vehicle and aircraft models and names © to their respective companies and owners  
New Divide song © to Linkin Park  
_Cybertronian Legacy_ fanfiction series and all related original characters, concepts, and events is © to me (Universe Queen; I'm AmethystJewel over on DeviantArt)  
New Divide: Rise or Fall fanfic, title, adaption of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen movie and books events/dialog, and the story's original characters, concepts, and events © to me (Universe Queen)  
Original human design of Optimus Prime © to Lecidre (her username on DeviantArt), and is used with permission; modified version of Lecidre's Optimus Prime human design © to me (Universe Queen)  
Original human design of Bumbleebee © Djkaeru (her username on DeviantArt), and is used with permission  
Some TF sources and references: Teletraan 1 (the Transformers wiki), and the Transformers fandom community.

*The author of this story does not own any copyrighted material that does not belong to her and is not making any profit off of this story, its series, or anything else related to it. It is purely for fun.

-takes a breath- Okay, now that the long-winded introduction is done, enjoy the story!

* * *

_Home. Ours was once a planet called Cybertron. The Allspark, its source of life and power, sustained the planet and its race, the Cybertronians, for many peaceful generations. Then, the balance was lost as the Great War began; Autobots, who stood for freedom and peace with the will to protect life, against the Decepticons, who wanted the Allspark's power for themselves to conquer and destroy our world and others. The war raged on for countless millennia, each and every battle damaging our once beautiful and thriving planet. _

_The Decepticons gained many important victories and were poised to win the war, and so the Autobots were finally forced to launch the Cube into the far reaches of space to keep it out of enemy hands, thus ultimately dooming Cybertron to permanently shut down. We journeyed from our dying homeworld into space and the War continued…. _

_I am Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots. Eventually, we followed the Allspark across space to a planet called Earth. The Decepticons managed to intercept us on the planet, and another battle followed. During combat, our race's life-giving Allspark was destroyed. In the aftermath of this event, my forces and I have come to stay here amongst this planet's people. Cybertron is no more. Earth is our home now. I sent a message into space, telling any other surviving Autobots that they could find refuge here. Some have already answered the call._

_For the last two years, an advanced team of new Autobots has taken refuge here under my command. Together, we have formed an alliance with the humans. A classified military strike team called N.E.S.T. A secret, but brave squad of soldiers. We hunt for what remains of our Decepticon foes hiding in different countries around the globe, and continually monitor activity around the world for any signs of the enemy. It has been peaceful here living amongst the humans and their cultures, but I fear this calm will not last. _

_Unfortunately, when we left Cybertron and travelled to Earth, our war also came with us. Now, if our enemies seek vengeance on us, they will also involve this planet, and its people. Earth's civilizations are not ready for our conflict and I regret to have involved them in our Great War. We protect them to the best of our abilities, and if we stand united against our enemies, we can prevail. But there is something else unfolding, something that only very few understand. In our quest to protect the humans, a deeper revelation dawns. Our worlds…have met before…"_

* * *

**Location: Pentagon, Washington, D.C., United States  
Date: Saturday, August 8, 2009  
Time: 10:12 hours (10:12 AM)**

"_Newsflash from the BBC…. Breaking news out of Shanghai_…." said a female reporter on TV. The footage running next to the woman speaking showed the downtown region of the city of Shanghai with its tall skyscrapers.

"_There's been a major toxic spill in the Shanghai factory district," _another reporter was saying on a different channel._ "Police are evacuating…." _While the reporter talked, the visuals onscreen showed huge crowds of people moving out of one of Shanghai's urbanized industrial compounds. Smoke rose in a thick fog around the area. The people ran, some with their families and children, the devastation around them mirrored on their faces. Police and officials helped the crowds quickly evacuate out of the affected region. Behind the masses of people, hazard control and fire containment crews could be seen moving in on location. "_We're staying on top of this developing story for you. We will bring you any new information as we get it…_."

All of these different news broadcasts were simultaneously playing on various computer screens in the Pentagon's N.E.S.T. operations chamber. The room was divided into three platforms, each filled with a row of display monitors and computer stations, where numerous operatives worked around the clock. The men worked in a wide variety of purposes; surveillance, communications, and tactics/strategic deployment of their resources and personnel on missions. Such as now, where they were monitoring an international operation to China to intercept and take out an enemy target that they had detected during the middle of the previous night. And standing in the middle of the topmost platform, overseeing all the processes, was NEST's veteran commander, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and four-star general in the marines, General Morshower.

"NEST Seahawks approaching target," one operative announced. Another man turned around from his station to address the General. "Three minutes until evacuation is complete, sir. Chinese airspace has been locked and sealed, one-mile radius."

General Morshower nodded. "All right, give NEST team the go."

The operative nodded and turned back to his display screen. He pressed his finger to a button on the side of headset, and patched into the comm. frequencies for the main forces. "Asset transports, begin deployment. Black Hawks, you're clear to land."

* * *

**Location: Shanghai, China  
Date: Saturday, August 8, 2009  
Time: 22:14 hours (10:14 PM)**

An old, battered, and beat-up-looking ice cream truck drove slowly through a rundown section of Shanghai's city grounds. It was colored in dingy shades of pink and tan with stickers and ads pasted all over the sides of it. A faint tune was playing from a loudspeaker attached to the front hood. On the front of the bumper, was a small, intricate design shaped like a face; the Autobot symbol. As the truck wheeled along, a robotic voice suddenly called out over the low music. "Ding-a-ling! Come out and get yo' ice cream." A few seconds later, a second voice spoke up from inside the same car. "Any bad robots out there better get ready to have their butts whupped!"

Just then, the two robotic entities picked up a transmission on their radio. _"…NEST forces…assemble at main industrial compound…." _The message was full of static and abruptly cut out. But that was all the Twins needed to find the rest of the Autobots.

"That site's not far from here!" the second voice spoke up excitedly.

"Let's go join the other 'bots," the first voice announced, agreeing with the second voice, "and kick some Decepticon aft!" The ice cream truck suddenly revved its engine and sped up, heading for the industrial site as fast as they could go with their rickety alt-mode.

Miles away, the different branches of the NEST strike force rolled into one of Shanghai's main industrial compounds. Around the perimeter, surveillance vehicles, undercover as hazard containment squads, provided cover for the members of NEST to work. In one area, the teams designated for searching and backup personnel climbed into their military trucks. They set up their in-vehicle monitoring systems and put on their gear. A silver Corvette Stingray was seen amongst this group; driving alongside the determined soldiers.

On another parkway that entered into the outskirts of the manufacturing complex, three eighteen-wheeler trailer trucks drove speeding toward the target site, one after the other. The backs of the trucks slid upward, revealing military hummer trucks, full-to-capacity with heavily artillery. Ramps extended down to the road, scraping the ground. "Move out, let's go!" One by one, the armed trucks backed out of the eighteen-wheelers and drove onto the other side of the road. The first two trucks veered off the main road and onto an exit, their job complete.

Inside the third and last of the eighteen-wheeler trucks, were three almost-identical motorcycles. The middle one was a reddish-pink color, the second one was medium-sapphire blue, and the third was deep purple. Arcee, Chromia and Moonracer. A male voice came over the loudspeaker in the truck. "_Autobot Triplets, get ready to launch_."

The motorcycles suddenly roared to life, and their holoforms, three beautiful, identical women materialized on the bikes. "We're locked and loaded," they responded in unison. The back ramp of the truck lowered onto the ground. The sisters wheeled out, and then hung a U-turn so that they were following directly behind the hummers.

In the sky overhead the large factory compound, three helicopters were getting ready to land on the complex. Inside one of them, the First Ground Team was getting ready for the coming conflict. The leader of the soldiers, Major William Lennox was briefing his squad as their helicopter prepared for landing. "All right, listen up," he said to his team. "China's cover story on this one is 'toxic spill.' They had to evac the area for search and rescue." Next to Lennox on the chopper's seat, sat his best comrade and one of the most qualified soldiers he had ever met, Master Sergeant Robert Epps. Both of the men had been through many battles, and had a pretty good idea of what to expect on this encounter; the newer recruits to NEST would follow their examples.

"We've contained our teams' activities to a one-mile radius," said Sergeant Epps, picking up where Lennox had left off. "The press, civilians, and everyone else have been vacated, giving us a clear field. We'll go in, kick some tail, and then get out. It should be a relatively clean mission. Figuratively, anyway."

Lennox nodded, and continued. "This makes six enemy contacts in eight months. We gotta make sure this one does not get out to the public eye, so keep it tight."

After commencing the landing sequence, the helicopter carrying Major Lennox and his team set down in the grassy terrain just outside the compound. The soldiers immediately jumped out, led by Lennox and Epps, and spread around the area for their tasks. The men in the Second Ground Team jogged toward the main factory platform, which was a large, outdoor storage yard that housed a supply of raw materials, and switched on their high-tech surveillance gear to keep a close watch on the plant while the others finished setting up. They knew the target was close. Some soldiers stayed in the courtyard, activated their weapons and knelt down in the grass, waiting. Lennox and Epps brought out their own detection equipment. The sergeant put his gear on and moved into position near the platform, but Lennox and the other members of the First Ground Team stayed back to wait.

On the main street leading to the factory, a GMC Topkick off-road truck approached the compound, followed by four hummer trucks packed with heavy artillery. It rolled through an archway and into the courtyard, heading for the soldiers. Holding his headset in his hand, Major Lennox jogged toward the Topkick truck and fell into step beside the vehicle as it rolled to a stop several feet away from where the ground teams were assembled. "All right, Ironhide," he said patting the truck's hood. "We got echoes. _Vamos_."

After Lennox moved away, the truck suddenly split apart and began to transform. Metal ground against metal, folding out and up. It climbed taller and taller, starting to form the body of a giant, humanoid robot. The exterior metal of the truck became the armored plating on the robot's body; the front grill and bumper of the truck became the robot's chest. Both of his hands formed, and his main weapons, two huge double-barreled canons, whirled into place on each arm. The robot's head appeared, helmet plating clicked into place, formatting over the sides of the face, and around two glowing blue optics. Lastly, the smaller gears and plating clicked into place, completing the elaborate transformation sequence. Where the truck was moments ago, now stood the Autobot's weapons specialist, Ironhide. "He's here," said the giant robot, with a nod of confirmation to the soldiers. "I smell him."

Lennox signaled to the remaining men around him, and then pointed at the main platform. "Steel stacks at 2 o' clock." The rest of the soldiers jogged to the platform, and moved into position with the other men around the central compound site. "It's close. It's getting closer." The tension in the air was building. At any moment, the mission could go hot. Lennox knelt down in back of some crates, beside Epps, who was looking confusedly down at his portable radiation and heat scanner. "What have you got?"

"I can't tell if I'm getting a clear reading or not…" replied the sergeant. The readout showed a high-energy signal that seemed to come from more than one place, almost like it was being reflected and scattered in different directions. Epps tapped the display screen of the scanner with his finger. The readout didn't change. "Either it's cloaking its signal like it did in Rome or we're getting echoes off these steel stacks."

Lennox fiddled with the settings on his advanced environmental-scanning visor. He was getting equally weird readings. "I know what you mean. I'm getting a readout that there's something behind those stacks that's radiating a gamma signature of at least four bars, which is _waay_ more than we came for, but no time to debate that now…." He briefly scanned the area again. "There's definitely something here with us, so keep sharp."

Epps reached down and clicked off the safety on his assault rifle. "Time to kick some butt."

Lennox rolled his eyes. "You're getting cocky, Epps."

"We're 'bout to go after some aggressive alien predator," answered Epps. "You want me cocky, or scared outta my mind?"

The major thought for a moment. "All right, cocky's good," he decided.

"Besides, I like to get a little confrontational with my enemies. Prepares me for what's comin.'"

Lennox nodded in solemn agreement to his friend's statement. He adjusted his headset, and looked out toward the factory. Keeping his eyes trained on the steel stacks, he patched in to everyone's communications frequency. "Right, everybody, be steady…." he whispered, "we're right on top of it."

Mere seconds after Lennox had given that command, Epps' handheld monitor started to flash. He looked down at it. The thermal radiation levels were suddenly going haywire. "Oh, no." he whispered.

Lennox looked over. "What?"

"Thermal ripple," Epps replied, showing the major the reading. Both of them looked up, their gazes fixed on the storage yard. "This isn't good…"

The men took aim with their weapons, fingers on the triggers, all safeties off. But just as the soldiers were ready to fire, the earthmover that was located behind the steel stacks suddenly started moving. It reared up, partly transforming into an enormous robot body. _The Decepticon_. It slammed its hands down in contact with the ground, creating a massive shock pulse. The energy wave caused several explosions, which in turn dislodged the building materials on the platform. The stack of large cement pipes burst apart and rained down on the soldiers. The battle began.

The men shot back at the Decepticon, weapons fire suddenly erupting everywhere. Another strong shock pulse from the giant robot's hands sent the men nearest him flying backwards through the air, colliding hard with the ground when they landed. Old cars tumbled and flipped over, crashing into other objects and the metal chain-link fences surrounding the compound. Some soldiers were injured in the crossfire, unable to get up. Ironhide provided the best cover he could for the men. He deflected some stray bullets off his armor, and produced counterblasts for some of the heavier fire, all the while firing powerful shots from his own canons at the huge Decepticon. Lennox and Epps took cover together. While Lennox radioed for a med unit, Epps contacted the operatives standing by at the Pentagon. "Panther 1, requesting fire mission now!"

The reply was immediate. "_Gunships on station, roll in hot!"_

While the soldiers were gathering their wounded and withdrawing to a safe distance, the Decepticon transformed to its alt-mode, a gigantic two-wheeled earthmover drone and rose up. Only one wheel was touching the ground, the other rumbled into place above its head. After gaining balance, Demolisher started to roll away from the compound. Gunships moved in and began firing rounds at the Decepticon, tailing his progress. Their shots hardly made a dent in Demolisher's armor, but it was enough to irritate him. He took a swipe at one of the closer helicopters; his hand slammed into it, tearing the unfortunate chopper in two in midair. The pieces crashed to the ground and exploded. The remaining copters stopped their air assault and broke off pursuit; two more surveillance helicopters moved in, staying high above the giant destructive robot's powerful arms. Debris rained down on the ground as the colossal Decepticon rolled away, heading for a main freeway...and outside of the NEST team's secured zone.

Meanwhile, about a mile away, a NEST helicopter picked up another enemy signal on the radar. Down below the copter, a silver Audi R8 suddenly turned itself on, drove out of the shadows, and sped off toward a steel yard. It was the Decepticon, Sideways. "_We got a second Decepticon,_" the operative in the chopper radioed to the surrounding teams.

The First Ground Team received the transmission from the helicopter. The men had retreated from the factory to a nearby area that served as a storage enclosure, and was now designated as a standby zone for the NEST team to regroup. It was out of the way of the major combat, but close enough where they could jump back in the battle at anytime. While the soldiers moved in a medical van to treat their wounded, Lennox reviewed the message that they had just picked up. He scanned the information quickly, along with the Decepticon's trajectory, and immediately picked up his radio. "Autobot Triplets!" he shouted into the communicator. "Target comin' your way!"

Some distance away, the three Autobot motorcycles, who were driving under a large building's overhead passageway, got the message just as Sideways pulled alongside them. He revved his engine and sped up, passing by the triplets, and leaving a haze of dust in his wake. They deactivated their human holoforms and accelerated after him, beginning the high-speed chase. The three sisters ran the Decepticon out of the tunnel and into a clearing, where the newest Autobots, the Twins, in their combined alt mode as an ice cream truck, had finally managed to catch up to the chase.

"I got him, I got him!" the two of them called together. The ice cream truck made to swivel around and follow after the sleek Decepticon car and the Autobot Triplets, but not being built for fast turns or combat, the truck drove straight ahead instead and slammed into a stack of barrels. Both halves of the vehicle came apart; the front half skidded over across the ground, and the back half crashed into a wall some yards away. In the crash, both twins were jolted to their robot forms. The former back half of the truck, the younger twin, Mudflap, rose unsteadily to his feet. "Oh… I screwed that up. I'm okay, I'm all right…" He rubbed the top his head. "Total brain freeze..."

The first, older twin, Skids, treaded over to Mudflap. "This is combat, man!" he shouted at his brother. "What's wrong with you?" Skid punched Mudflap in the face. The younger twin fell over, and Skids jumped on his brother, tackling him.

While the twins fought with each other, the triplet motorcycles moved into formation behind Sideways. The lead sister and pink motorbike, Arcee, quickly transformed to robot mode, activated her arm canon, and shot at the Decepticon car. He dodged and veered around to avoid the blasts, his tires squealing on the pavement. Her two other sisters, Chromia and Moonracer, transformed and followed suit, lining up their target and then firing. Sideways dove into an alleyway, and not missing a beat, the Autobot Triplets pursued him. They swerved around and rebounded off of obstacles in the alley, constantly changing positions with each other, keeping in a shifting pattern. They displayed incredible agility coupled with amazing acrobatics, all the while keeping their fire concentrated on the Decepticon.

Pressured by the barrage of raining bullets, Sideways quickly transformed to robot form, and rammed the building in front of him, a part of the industrial district's personal residence apartments, head-on. The people inside dove to the floor in the resulting explosion. All except for one old man, who kept on eating his noodles, seeming to barely notice that a giant robot had come bursting through the living room, followed closely by three others.

Sideways burst through the other side of the structure and sent a shockwave pulse back at the building, before he rolled forward in a somersault, transformed back into his alt-mode, and drove speeding away. The three sisters got blasted by the backwave and the explosion and were sent flying back, colliding with a nearby alley wall. Arcee recovered the fastest. The femme shook her head to clear the daze her processor had from the impact, and quickly assessed the situation. She and her sisters were mostly all right, but by the time they got on their wheels and back into the chase, Sideways would be miles away. Arcee accessed her communicator. "Major Lennox, send Sideswipe to converge on enemy target. My team'll be a little behind."

"_Acknowledged_."

Still stationed in the standby zone, the First Ground Team, upon Arcee's call, moved into action. Lennox yelled to his men, "Bring in Sideswipe!"

The sleek, silver Corvette Stingray Concept car suddenly came speeding out of the back lines. Sideswipe rapidly transformed into his streamlined and aerodynamic robot mode. "Clear a path!" he yelled as he switched to his wheeled feet, landing with precise dexterity. Soldiers barreled out of Sideswipe's way, as the Autobot warrior slid expertly along the road, almost parallel to the ground, with one hand running contacted with the pavement for support. He skidded around in an incredible, circular 180 turn to clear the alley passage and break out into open road.

Sideswipe speed-skated along the street, using his scanners to track Sideways' position. Within ten seconds, he caught up with the fleeing Decepticon, just as the enemy car sped out of an alleyway into open view. Sideswipe moved into position, following closely on the Decepticon's tail; both of them were rushing through the city's roads at top velocity, easily over one hundred miles per hour. He charged up the canon on his back as he edged closer to Sideways. He fired a few preliminary shots and then slowed down a bit, expecting the Decepticon to transform to robot form and take him on. But Sideways didn't; he kept in vehicle mode and accelerated faster. Sideswipe then suddenly gave a breakneck burst of speed, and launched himself up into the air, somersaulting over Sideways, firing a full spread from his canon at the enemy car as he did so. Many of the blasts made contact with Sideswipe's exterior. Sideways then landed in front of the Decepticon and unsheathed one of his deadly blades. In one swift move of absolute skill and accuracy, Sideswipe spun around and raced at Sideways, running his sword down along the ground. The blade caught the Decepticon car in the front bumper, and sliced up through the middle, cutting Sideways directly in half. Both sides of the car skidded across the ground and crashed into a nearby building, causing a huge explosion. Sideswipe spun around twice on his wheeled feet in front of the shockwave, displaying his victory.

"Man, I'm good," he said as he retracted his blade back into his arm. He skated forward, and then transformed back into his vehicle alt-mode, speeding off toward the nearby highway where the major action was happening.

The enormous one-wheeled Decepticon, Demolisher, continued to speed down the central freeway. He tore up the road, blasted straight through overhead signs and lights, and crushed unfortunate vehicle after vehicle underneath his huge wheel as he went, leaving a devastating trail of destruction in his wake. Objects and debris were spitting out from his wheel, flying in all directions. Three heavily-armed NEST hummer trucks followed closely on Demolisher's tail, but they didn't dare get too close to the gigantic transformer. They had fired on the Decepticon, trying to slow him down, but hardly any harm was done to the massive menace; their rounds had just bounced off his armor. Every second the damage to the city worsened, and if Demolisher broke the secure perimeter that they set up, they were going to have one heck of a job covering up the incident with the news crews. They needed to stop this Decepticon _now_. And if their firepower wasn't enough to bring him down, then they'd have to bring in bigger guns.

Inside one the hummer trucks, Sergeant Epps picked up a radio. Time to call for backup. "Air support, we need the big guy dropped and delivered now!"

High above the downtown city area of Shanghai, a C-17 cargo plane that was circling the region received Epps' call. "_Cyclone 98, final attack hitting in 120_..." they responded. The aircraft adjusted its trajectory and dipped downwards, below some of the metropolis' taller buildings. The cargo ramp of the plane opened outwards and down, revealing the Autobot leader, Optimus Prime, in his vehicle alt-mode: a red and blue semi-truck with flame decals painted on the sides of it. The pilot's voice came on over the plane's internal loudspeaker. "_Clear to drop in five, four, three, two, one_..." Two human airmen stood at each side of the ramp and simultaneously gave him the hand signal for good-to-go status. Prime's engine rumbled in initiation, his headlights flared, and he sped forward off the ramp and into open air. Once he cleared a safe distance from the plane, he transformed in mid-air into his robot mode, twisting and spiraling down toward the ground. At about 200 feet from the road below, Prime released the three giant parachutes attached to his armor, each with the Autobot symbol on them, to slow his descent.

"Autobots," he called. "I'm in pursuit!" Both of his hands changed into energon hooks. He cut the parachute cords from the back of his armor and dropped the last few feet to the ground. Prime ran a couple of starting steps before somersaulting forward and changing into his truck alt-mode. He sped along the overpass that ran above the freeway that Demolisher was on, tracking the Decepticon's movement. The colossal transformer was approaching rapidly and would shortly intercept the above highway that Optimus was on. The Autobot leader maintained his course, Demolisher in his sights, advancing... Then, as the Decepticon neared even closer, Prime again changed to robot mode. With his transformation barely complete, he dodged a car that had come flying his way, and at the last possible second, leapt off the overpass as Demolisher crashed through it like it wasn't even there. Optimus latched onto the Decepticon's upper side, swung around, and held on as the massive robot continued plowing straight through the explosion. Debris flew in all directions. Buildings were blasted apart from stray weapons fire, the roads were tearing up, and cars were flying all over the place, analogous to scraps of paper being blown around in the wind. Explosions were going off everywhere.

A giant blast involving several cars and a fallen electrical cable with a strong, live current suddenly ignited on an adjacent road, creating a huge plume of fire and smoke. Ironhide, back in his off-road truck alt-mode, emerged from the other side of the cloud of fire, unaffected. Ironhide swerved along on the road, dodging stray weapons fire and subsequent explosions. He had Prime and Demolisher on his sensors, racing toward the action zone at top accelerative power.

On the main freeway, Optimus climbed up on the back of Demolisher's head. "Pull over!" he shouted as he drew one of his energy guns and shot at the Decepticon's neck. After three blasts, the Decepticon started to lose momentum. Ironhide caught up with them, transformed to robot mode, and with a great running-powered leap, he rammed into Demolisher with all his strength. The combined efforts of both Autobots threw the giant Decepticon's equilibrium off and he began to wobble dangerously on his wheel.

Ironhide and Prime leapt clear of the Decepticon just before the massive robot lost his balance and tipped over off the highway. Demolisher went flying through another thoroughfare and crashed into a building before slowing to a stop, severely injured, and unable to get up.

The night was suddenly quiet, save for the many sirens going off in the distance. A giant plume of smoke surrounded the area where Demolisher had gone down. The human soldiers slowly and carefully edged toward the site where the Decepticon had fallen, joined by Sideswipe, Arcee, Chromia and Moonracer, who all had just caught up with the others. Optimus Prime stepped through the cloud of smoke, followed closely by his bodyguard, Ironhide. The Decepticon lay in a crumpled heap on the ground in front of them, barely moving. They approached the crippled enemy, all of their weapons still drawn and active.

"Punk-aft Decepticon," growled Ironhide. Optimus glanced briefly at his weapons specialist and then looked back at the Decepticon. "Any last words?"

Demolisher feebly raised his head. Part of his face had been destroyed in the impact. "This is not your planet to rule…" he gasped. "The Fallen…shall rise again…." The Decepticon's vocal processor was damaged so his voice came out garbled, but despite that, everyone that had gathered around understood what he had said.

Behind the Autobots, in the group of soldiers, Sergeant Epps suddenly looked very uneasy, mirroring the expression of the twenty other men around him. "That doesn't sound good," he said quietly.

Optimus stepped forward. "Not today." He lifted his energy gun, charged it, and fired at the Decepticon's head, destroying the robot's core processor. The giant transformer's remaining optic flickered out, and his whole body went still. Everyone stood around in the settling, post-battle calm of the night, looking at the now-dead Decepticon.

There were a few more moments of silence and then Major Lennox spoke up, addressing everyone. "All right, team. The Decepticon threat has been neutralized. Now we need to work on the next thing, which is cleanup. We gotta get the enemy remains out of the area, and cover up as much of our tracks as we can. Remember, we're still supposed to be a national secret here. After we're done, then we have to ship outta here asap, before people start coming this way. Offense Squad soldiers, you're in charge of getting our military assets – trucks, guns, personnel, equipment, and everything else – gathered and back on the planes. Radio the Air Team to let them know our status and that we're aiming for departure at 0100 hours. Autobots, Sergeant Epps, and First and Second Ground Teams," Lennox pointed at everyone as he went down the list, "you're with me in getting rid of what's left of the Decepticons and all evidence of NEST activity to make it look like we were never here. We'll start on the outer perimeter and work our way in; Defense Squad can radio to have air transport arranged for this huge monstrosity later." He gestured dismissively at the Decepticon behind them. "Someone's also gotta go and find the new Autobot recruits, the Twins. We lost contact with them awhile back during the battle. Third Ground Team, secure the boundaries while the rest of us work; make sure no civilians enter the hazard zone. Everybody got that?"

There were simultaneous nods and affirmations amongst the group. Lennox nodded as well. "All right, let's move out."

The group started to move. Soldiers ran to nearby hummer trucks, piled in, and drove off in different directions, some heading for the perimeter, and others going to retrieve equipment. Others stayed on the ground on foot. Sideswipe transformed into his alt mode, and rode alongside the ground teams that were walking. The Autobot Triplets, still in robot mode, wheeled slowly behind them, with Ironhide, also in robot form, bringing up the rear. Lennox waited for his buddy, Sergeant Epps, to catch up so they could walk together. After Epps finished talking to some soldiers and reached Lennox, the two men fell into step in back of the others. Lennox surveyed the area. Much of the landscape was still smoking or on fire. After that battle, the entire region within a ten-mile radius was, in a word, trashed. He exhaled roughly and rubbed his forehead. "The press is gonna have field day with this one…" He shook his head. "So's the government. Oh, God…"

"Yeah, they're not going to like this," Epps agreed.

Next to the two conversing soldiers, walked Ironhide. He was going over the battle in speed-motion replay in his processor. It was unfortunate that the Decepticons breached containment and destroyed much of the surrounding area, but nevertheless, they still had managed to succeed in stopping the threat. Forming a military alliance was a smart move, Ironhide mused. The humans certainly couldn't fight the Decepticons on their own, and even though the Autobots were capable of handling the battles alone, they would all admit that the backup and arms were very much appreciated when the situation went hot. The Autobots and human soldiers worked more efficiently as a team with every mission they experience, honing tactics, skills, and carrying out of tasks. Ironhide knew everyone had performed to the best of their abilities tonight. He had been on par with his personal level of ability as usual, and Prime fought on his level of swiftness and precision as he always did.

And speaking of Prime...Ironhide noticed that the Autobot Commander wasn't in step beside him. He stopped and turned to look over his shoulder armor. Optimus was still standing over the remains of Demolisher, his back to the retreating group, his gaze fixed on the inert Decepticon.

"Come on, Prime," Ironhide called to the Autobot leader. Optimus didn't respond or even glance Ironhide's way. The weapons specialist lingered a moment longer, watching Prime's back, then turned and resumed walking after the rest of the group, knowing that at times like then when Prime was thinking, it was best to leave him be and not bother him.

Optimus stayed where he was. He stood almost motionless, his optics intensely scanning the lifeless Decepticon in front of him, trying to find something anomalous. None of the five other enemy encounters in the last year had come with any kind of message, but tonight's confrontation had been different. Demolisher's cryptic message was clearly a warning, but what did it mean? '_The Fallen shall rise again_?' Was he implying that fallen Decepticon warriors from battles past could somehow be resurrected? Prime shook his head. No, that just wasn't possible. But then...what did it mean? Was it a title, an entity of some kind? What connection did it have with the Decepticons?

The Autobot leader sighed quietly to himself, turning his gaze away from the dead Decepticon's body, and tilting his head back to look up at the foggy, Shanghai night sky. Every question seemed to yield no answers, only more questions, and this latest development had him tense and on edge. Nothing was clear. Everything was shrouded in mystery, doubt, and confusion. But Prime did know one thing; in recent months, enemy activity had been becoming increasingly frequent, and now they had this ominous warning... There was something brewing in the shadows, formulating just beyond the veil, he could feel it. Something was coming. It felt like another wave of all-out war was brewing on the horizon, threatening to erupt at any moment...

Prime stood staring up at the heavens for several minutes while he attempted to achieve temporary resolution to the matter in his processor. After all, he had a lot of work to finish before the team could ship back to base, and also needed a recharge period once they got underway, after the last 26 hours of being on high alert and the subsequent battle. He'd have to set the matter aside for now and focus on the tasks at hand, and once the debriefing, check-ins, and everything else was over and up to speed, he'd investigate further. Prime lowered his head, his gaze leaving the sky. He took one last brief look around the area and the terminated Decepticon, and then turned and walked away to join the others.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Well, there's the first chapter. I think it's a good start. It's pretty basic and follows the canon RotF events closely, but this is only the beginning after all. :D Next chapter, it starts to branch off more into the original parts of the story.

(Side note: I didn't introduce the story with the '17,000 B.C.' prologue segment like in the movie. That part with ancient Earth will be explained differently later on in a future chapter. I changed up the introduction, and slightly rearranged some events to make them flow better.)

(Side note #2: In my _CL _series, the three 'Arcee' motorcycles, Arcee, Chromia, and Moonracer, are sisters/triplets, not Arcee's spark split between three separate bodies. They still have a very acute connection though since they are a very special set of triplets; anything that one feels, the other two will feel the same thing). And as for the purple triplet, I say it's Moonracer, not Elita-1.)

Please R&R! (That's read and review; everyone knows reviews are the best! :) )

~UniverseDreams


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